


Red Light, Green Light 1 2 3

by FixOrRideDaily



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Femslash, Gen, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Menstruation, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Game(s), Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 07:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6364564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FixOrRideDaily/pseuds/FixOrRideDaily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red means Stop, Green means Go, and Yellow means Caution. </p><p>Colors really shouldn't be this hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Light, Green Light 1 2 3

**Author's Note:**

> Josh and Hannah throw a "Stoplight" party. The evening is very eventful for our group of ten friends.
> 
> I am eternally sorry for the lack of Sam in this story. Also after writing her I have a new found love for Jessica.
> 
> This work is meant to take place before the events of the game and to be a look into a couple of the characters heads during one event. It's not really so much about the relationships listed. Their problems range from non-existent(Hannah) to pretty intense (Emily) on purpose. With Chris, Matt and Beth somewhere in between. I also tried to frame so it could be canon.
> 
> Not beta-read so all mistakes are mine.

If there was one thing the Washington clan was known for it would be their impressive house parties. Bob and Melinda were out of town or out for the night often and they were the type of parents that felt like the kids were safer drinking under their own roof than out somewhere shady and foreign. This combined with Hannah's enthusiasm for all things romantic and Josh's enthusiasm for all things theatrical led to some pretty memorable experiences at the mansion.

Theme parties in particular were their style. To say they went all out would be an understatement. And when they ran out of sensible themes or timely ones they just threw together whatever crazy idea came into either of their heads. A few favorites from that lot had been Josh's Tarantino party (Sam had made an amazing Bride from Kill Bill) and Hannah's old time Hollywood party (Mike was practically born to be 50's heart throb). They were a movie mogul family at their core after all. Though this event promised to be a much calmer affair. Mostly due to Beth's insistence.

"A stoplight party?" Matt questioned looking at his invite as the four guys lounged together on the bleachers after classes let out before Matt, already in his uniform, had to get out onto the field for practice, Josh was expected to be at the theater for rehearsal, Mike was needed in a class counsel meeting, and Chris was off to work on his science fair project (with Ashley).

"Yeah, cool idea right?" Josh said handing identical envelopes to Mike and Chris. He had a much larger stack with more names on them tucked under his arm. It was no surprise to see, Josh invited all the boys, and Hannah all the girls. They had figured out the system years ago.

"Maybe for all you single guys among us," Mike said, opening his envelope with very little enthusiasm.

"Well, you could risk Emily’s wraith and wear yellow, Mr. President," Matt laughed.

"I don't get it," Chris said fingering his own invite with curiosity, "We're supposed to wear certain colors to this party or something? What's the deal?"

The other three rolled their eyes. For all his supposed brains, Chris could be pretty dense at times. Most especially when it came to anything involving social activities or engaging with people he found attractive or both. Matt, ever the nice guy, slide closer to him in order to explain the concept.

"It's a stoplight party. Everyone wears colors based on their relationship status, like a stoplight. Red means stop because they're taken. Green means go because they're single."

"What's yellow mean then?"

Josh smirked like a devil when he answered, "Approach with caution. Things here are complicated."

"So, we're meant to be hitting on each other? Based off our clothing choices?" Chris seemed as put off by that idea as Matt expected him to be.

“Well, I mean you don't have to hit on anybody, and knowing you, you probably wouldn't succeed anyway even if you did try, which you won't,”Josh told him. Matt was pretty sure if they weren't on school grounds Chris would probably have given Josh a very rude gesture right about then. Josh switched his focus back to his other two friends.

“You two coming? We invited Em and Marcy.” Matt tried not react to the mention of his girlfriend.

“I'm always down for a party Josh. I'll be there. Decked out in red,” Mike assured. Matt nodded slowly before answering his smile small and reluctant.

“If Marcy's cool with it, we'll be there too.” Josh turned back to Chris triumphantly. Mike smiled like a cat as he watched them. Matt was just happy to no longer have the focus be on him, even though he did feel a little bad for Chris.

“See Chris? They're both going to go. It'll be fun and I know you own green cause it's been your favorite color since you were 9,” Josh said poking his friend in the knee, “Ash is probably gonna come too, and she's definitely gonna be all decked out in green. You wanna leave her at the mercy of all those single guys, who know she's free game?”

“Alright, alright fine,” Chris said smacking Josh's hand away, “I'll go! Just stop poking me.” Chris snatched up his bag and stood up, Mike followed suit, still smiling that crooked smile of his. The two of them headed towards building one for their afternoon extracurricular activities. Josh winked comically at Matt before grabbing his own bag and heading towards the auditorium in building two. 

Matt sighed heavily after his friends were out of sight. He liked the guys, he really did, but he wasn't sure he was what you would call close to any of them. At least not close enough to talk about what he had been thinking the last few days. He couldn't say out loud that he was really hoping Marcy didn't want to go to this party. She didn't even like his friends all that much, why would she want to spend a whole night hanging out with them. She quite especially had an issue with-

He cut off his own thought there. It was best not to dwell on it. No girls, and no party. He pulled his helmet on and jogged out to the meet the rest of his team. Practice always took his mind off his problems. That's just where he had to put himself for now. He could talk to someone later, maybe Sam or Ashley. Now it was just him, his team and the game.

\---

“O.M.G we should totally get dressed up together! Won't that be so fun, Em? Ah I love when Hannah throws parties!” Emily smiled and nodded to placate Jess as they headed down the halls to their different activities. She really didn't have the mind to be focused on outfits right now. This was shocking for her. Normally she'd need the whole rest if the week to plan her outfit and Mike's matching one at that. She just had much bigger things on her mind then an upcoming party right now. 3 days. Was that worth panicking over yet? Probably not.

“Unless, you know, you'd rather get dressed up with Mike, that way the two of you can be all coordinated and whatever.”

“No, I'd rather get ready with you,” She said maybe a little too quickly, “I've got the whole night to spend with Mike while your catching all the single eyes.” She couldn't tell Jess that she was afraid to face Mike right now. That she couldn't look at him without the threat of completely breaking down. It was times like this she wished she was closer to someone like Sam. Sam would understand.

“Oh love, you flatter me,” Jess said taking her hand as they walked passed the gym entrance. Jess gave her a silly little kiss on the hand with a giggle and then paused before she went in.

“Hey Emily, are you okay girl, you look really pale?” Who was she kidding? Jess was her best friend. She would understand, of course she would. Emily was just being stubborn, like she always was. So she just smiled and nodded squeezing her friend's hand for emphasis.

“Yeah. Just that time of the month you know.” Except that it wasn't. That was precisely Emily's problem in fact.

“Ugh yuck. Sorry hun,” Jess said making a half sympathetic and half grossed out face, “Look I gotta get to gymnastics. But are you sure you can make it to debate club though? I can walk you. It's no big deal! Let me just get Sam to tell the couch!”

“No really, I'm fine,” Emily stopped her, “Just not very talkative is all. Sorry.”

“Alright, well text me later then. I'll bring you dark chocolate and we'll watch some trashy T.V. Okay?”

“Okay,” Emily agreed squeezing her friend's hand one last time before hurrying off. She counted her steps as she marched to debate club and tried not to think about her late period. She tried to focus instead on the issue of animal testing in the field of medical science. The issue she would be debating today. She was on the pro side. Beth would be on the con side. She liked debating Beth. It always gave her a challenge. It was just want she needed today.

\---

“Just give it to her after debate. She'll probably be in the lab with Chris.” Hannah had said in a voice Beth could never refuse. Even though her every instinct wanted to. She could never say no to her brother or sister when they asked something of her. Even when it was something she disagreed with or really didn't want to do. For example help out with yet another one of their silly, or over the top ideas for a huge get-together at their place. A little not-so-secret secret tidbit about Beth was that she hated parties, unlike the rest of the Washington family including her parents and distant relatives apparently. She would much rather spend her weekend curled in her bed with the cat watching documentaries in her underwear and eating leftover pizza than have to put on a show for dozens of people.

Yet here she was going along with yet another crazy themed party idea that her older siblings had concocted after too much alcohol or too much sugar or too much of both. This was probably the dumbest one they had ever come up with too. Dressing in colors to indicate whether you are free to be hit on or not. Yeah, she wasn't about that ridiculousness either. They had picked a perfect time to host it too as far as she was concerned. Though to be fair it's not like either of them could have known what she had been thinking about herself lately or the dream she had had the other night about-

Nope, she wasn't going to go there. Not now. In fact maybe not ever again. As if she needed to be brought down anymore after losing in the debate today, (Emily had been particularly fierce). She was going to get this done and then meet her siblings at the theater so they could go home. She was just delivering the one invite Hannah hadn't been able to get to today. The one to Ashley.

\---

Chris had thought that he and Ashley had successfully managed to avoid the awkward topic of the stoplight party that weekend as they worked on their science fair project. (Ashley suggested building a giant magnet. Chris thought that was an “attractive” idea. Well, she laughed.) He found out when Beth dropped by to hand Ashley her invitation that she hadn't even known about it until that moment. Beth was in and out like a bullet and soon it was just the two of them, packing up their stuff while Ashley read her invite. He wondered how rude it be if he just darted out of the room with a quick goodbye.

“It's pretty clever huh?” She finally said as they headed out of the lab together.

“What? Uh yeah I guess so,” He agreed, turning off the lights and locking the door behind him.

“Not really sure what I'll wear though,” she continued as they walked down the hall towards the exit.

“Oh, so, so you're going then?” Chris said. Man, he sounded stupid. Of course she was going. Ashley loved parties, especially creative parties. Why wouldn't she go?

“Well, yeah I was going to. Why? Aren't you?” she asked. Oh okay, wait a second, that sounded like she was only going if he was going. Was that a hint that he wasn't getting? Or one that he was getting? He should say 'yes' either way right?

“Of course I'm going, I'm Josh's best friend,” he answered. No, you doofus, say something charming, “And you know cause you're gonna be there.” Yeah, that was real smooth. She did smile at least.

“Great,” she said as they walked out the front door, she pointed to a car waiting by the street “Well there's my sister so I guess I'll see you when I see you.”

“Right! So bye,” he said waving goodbye to her as she ran off to get in her sister's car. As soon as it pulled away he took off like a shot towards the theater. He caught the three Washington siblings just as they were loading into Josh's jeep. Josh gave him an odd look as he came up to them.

“Hey uh man can I uh can I ride home with you, I uh I need to talk to you about something?” Chris said clearly out of breathe from his sprint across campus.

Hannah smiled at Beth, “Oh yeah, thanks for giving Ashley her invite by the way.”

\---

Hannah flopped right down on her bed as soon as she got to her room. Predictably Chris and Josh had disappeared into his room as soon as they got home and Beth went into the kitchen for food. Hannah pulled out her phone and texted her bff for life Sam asking what time she wanted to come over and help her start set-up for what was sure to be a party for the Washington history books. So maybe Hannah was a little bit excited or a lot a bit excited. She couldn't help it, she loved playing hostess and the only thing she loved more was love.

A true romantic at heart she couldn't get visions out of her head of someone spotting her in her lime green dress delighted and shocked to discover she wasn't already claimed by someone. Maybe they'd spend the whole night talking first or maybe he's ask her to dance and once they were out there he'd see that special sparkle in her eye. She was going to get a special dance either way. She just knew it. She knew in her heart that it was just going to be magical too. Even if in her fantasy the boy looked suspiciously like Micheal Munroe, who definitely knew she was single and would certainly be coming to the party in red with Emily. She decided not to focus on that part.

Sam texted her back with tons of exclamation points that she'd be there bright and early, as was her way, and that the two of them plus Beth would have to all get dressed up together beforehand too. Hannah jumped up at the idea and raced across the hall to her sister's room to let her know.

“Beth, Beth, Beth,” Hannah chanted banging on her door bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“What?” Beth said coming up behind her. Oh she had forgotten Beth was in the kitchen before.

“Sam wants us all to do make-overs together before the party! You are gonna do it with us right?”

Beth's face went cold and she said something she probably only said to Hannah or Josh a handful of times in their whole lives.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said No,” Beth pushed passed Hannah and headed for her door, “I can get ready myself thank you.”

“But-” Hannah started clearly in shock. Beth did almost everything with Hannah.

“Besides,” Beth added closing her door, “Sam is your best friend. Not mine.”

\---

Matt looked at his phone for what must have been the fiftieth time that night. Marcy had been very clear that she was going to meet him there later. She would text him when she was on her way. He didn't like to think of himself as a jealous guy, but he also didn't like that his girlfriend didn't want to show up to a party together. He didn't like the message that sent to certain people. He tried to tell her that. She said she didn't like the message he sent to people with all his closest friends being girls. That had shut him up fast.

He tried to let it go. He head into the Washington Mansion dressed in all black except for his red blazer. Of course it would be just his luck that he ran into Jessica first, short green skirt, white top, green sweater. She looked as cute as she always did. Her hair was loose around her head and she had a green headband and green sparkles in her hair and on her cheeks. As she got closer he noticed that she even had on light green lipstick. Only Jessica could make something so outlandish work in her favor. She ran right up to him and threw her arms around him in a hug. He felt warm in all the places her body connected with his and he knew that he squeezed her far too tight and far too long for a guy who was in a committed relationship.

“Matt! Hey!” she said loudly over the music, “Where's Marcy?”

“She's coming later. She's uh busy.” He decided that's what he'd tell people for now. It was the simplest explanation. Jess looked like she didn't buy it, but then she just pushed a smile back onto her face.

“Wanna grab a drink? Chris and Josh are over there.” She asked grabbing his hand and pulling him in that direction before he answered. He smiled and let himself be led by her. He chastised himself in his mind for it. He'd follow Jessica's bobbing blond head anywhere. That he realized was the problem here.

“Hey, Man!” “Matt!” Josh and Chris greeted when they got to the bar. Both guys wore green button ups though Chris paired his with white pants while Josh paired his much darker shirt with black slacks.

“Hey guys,” he said. He and Jess hadn't released hands right away. He wondered if the two guys noticed. They didn't seem to. His hand felt a little cold when she finally did pull away.

“Yeah yeah Hi hello, good to see you, we're all friends here. Now let's get our drink on,” Jess proclaimed shaking her hips provocatively, having no clue the kinds of things it was doing to her current companion. Or maybe she did know and Matt's status as a taken man just didn't matter to her, honestly he really couldn't tell.

“Amen to that,” Mike voice piped up suddenly behind them. Matt turned to see him as Jess went to give him a hug. The three guys called out greetings to each other as Matt tried to hide his jealousy at seeing Mike squeezing Jess to him.

“Here you are El Presidente,” Josh said as Mike reached passed Matt and Jess to retrieve a beer from Josh. That caught Jess' attention and she went to get the next one from him. Chris got one after and then Matt. After a long sip Matt took a look around and then addressed Mike.

“Hey Mike, where's Emily at?” Matt asked. Mike swallowed what was in his mouth before answering. 

“Oh, she's here. She over there talking with Ashley,” he said pointing towards the fireplace.

“Ashley? Where? I haven't seen Ashley yet?” Chris asked very interested in where Mike was pointing.

“She's right there. In the strapless yellow dress,” Mike clarified. And as if the nature of his words hit them all at the exact same time they each took a very long chug of their respective beers. 

Ashley had shown up to the party in yellow.

\---

“Are you sure you don't want me to get you some water Emily? You look a little sick.” Emily kinda wanted to smack Ashley. This was the third time she had asked that now. No, she had to give her some credit she was just being concerned. Honestly, maybe she could use a drink, though not the kind her red-headed friend was offering her.

“Actually, yeah that would be kinda great Ash. Would you?” Emily said sitting down next to the fireplace. It was difficult in her tight black pencil skirt, but it was the only thing that matched her frilly red blouse. She was willing to sacrifice a lot this week under the stress of everything, but the one thing she wasn't willing to sacrifice was her reputation as a fasionista. She couldn't be seen wearing anything less then the best at this party. That would be too much to handle right now. 

“Yeah, of course I'll be right back okay?” Emily saw Ashley start to make her way towards the bar at the other end of the room through the crowd of people drinking and dancing. She also thought she saw Chris and Josh racing away from that same bar, out of the room and up the stairs, but she might have imagined that. She wasn't thinking clearly lately.

It was 6 days now. Emily had never been late or missed a period in her life. It had been coming perfectly on schedule every month for the last five years. It had never been more than a slight inconvenience for her. She handled it like she did most everything in life, with style, class and attitude. It was marked in her day planner and on her room calender and in her phone. So she knew she had to be right about this. She also knew she was crazy to be in a panic about it right now.

Because Emily was a virgin.

Well, mostly anyway. She and Mike had never actually had full on sexual intercourse. They had come close a few times. Fooled around quite a bit, gone around most of the bases and gotten each other off. But for all technical purposes Emily was still a virgin. Which meant everything she was thinking had to be, could only be, must definitely be absolutely impossible.

She looked out into the crowd trying to see if Ashley was on her way back with her water yet. What she saw instead was Ashley handing said water over to Mike and saying something to him before pointing in her direction. Ugh that traitor! Okay, that wasn't fair. Ashley didn't know Emily was avoiding Mike. Still Emily was pretty sure she definitely going to slap Ashley when given the next opportunity. 

Mike started her way water in hand. They met eyes for a moment and she was unsure what to do. Then in a moment of sure terror Emily struggled to her feet and made a beeline for the bathroom. She got there just as someone was coming out and skipping the already forming line she rushed inside and locked the door. She heard someone banging, complaining that it had been their turn but she just tuned them out. She sat herself down on the toilet after closing the lid. She took a few deep breathes and realized that now that she was in here she really didn't have much of clue what to do next.

\---

“Why are you wearing red? You aren't taken.” Hannah whined when Beth came out of the kitchen with a refilled bowl a snacks to set out. This is what she did at big parties. Clean-up, refill, set-up. Did the ice need to be refilled? Don't worry Beth's got it. Garbage is piling up? Beth will take some of it outside then. We should clean some of these dishes now to get them out of the way. Okay, Beth will do it. Anything to keep her from actually having to partake in said party. 

Hannah looked really disappointed. So far, she had spent the whole night with Sam, but Beth had practically been a ghost. It pulled at her heart strings to see her siblings sad. She felt like she owed her twin at least some explanation for her behavior. True she wasn't exactly a party animal, but she was usually more involved than this when Josh and Hannah threw house parties.

“I just don't wanna get hit on by any guys,” Beth said, wondering if her twin would catch the emphasis she put on the last word. She really wasn't sure if she was ready to say it out loud yet, but maybe if Hannah got it on her own it would be that much simpler to tell her later. Maybe she would understand a little and things could be that much easier on Beth.

“Why not?” she sounded put off. Okay, so she didn't get it. Maybe this wasn't the right time, but Beth was feeling either particularly hopeful or particularly delusion right now so she tired again. This time she looked directly into Hannah's eyes and spoke much more slowly. 

“These guys just aren't my type, you know?” Beth put the emphasis in there again and raised her eyebrows high trying to make her point.

“How could all of them not be your type? You are seriously way too picky, Beth or being a party pooper. There has to be at least 20 single guys here tonight,” Hannah said crossing her arms and giving her a stern look, which Beth would admit was always more effective when she wasn't wearing her glasses. Beth sighed and decided to try a different approach. She clasped her sisters hands in her own.

“Well, tell me how many single girls do you think are here, tonight?” she put the emphasis on the word 'girls' this time and waited for her sister to catch her meaning. Hannah stared into her sister's eyes for a good solid couple of seconds. Then she gasped as the realization finally filtered into her mind.

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh My God.

“Yeah.”

“OH MY GOD.”

“Yeah.”

“We have to tell Josh.”

“What?” Then Hannah was sprinting off to find their older brother in order to share the news Beth coming up fast behind her just like she always had in life with the express purpose of stopping her.

\---

“I fucked up.” Chris was pacing Josh's floor again, over Ashley again, trying to figure out how he had messed things up, again.

“I wouldn't say you fucked things up.” Josh said digging through his closet.

Chris was raking his fingers through his hair. Ashley had shown up in yellow. As in approach me with caution yellow, there's a guy in the picture yellow, I'm kinda seeing somebody yellow, things are complicated with someone yellow. And honestly he only had one question.

“Am I the reason she's wearing yellow?” he asked Josh feeling like his heart had started beating so fast that it had actually just stopped all together.

“Well, has she mentioned that she's seeing anybody? Like maybe somebody online or in another school or something like that?” Josh asked. Though they both knew the answer to that was 'no.' They were Ashley's two best friends. They'd be the first to hear about her dating life. Chris shook his head.

“Yeah, she hasn't said anything to me either,” Josh sighed, “It's gotta be you, bro.”

“Well what- what do I do?”

“First things first,” Josh said tossing him a couple of shirts, “Change.”

“Why?”

“Dude, she's wearing yellow. You can not go out there in green,” Josh said as if it was an obvious thing, “What kind of message do you think that sends?”

“You think we might be over-analyzing this a little bit?” Chris asked.

“Probably,” Josh conceded. They stood in silence for a few moments.

“I should still change though,” Chris said heading into Josh's bathroom.

“Yeah, you should,” Josh agreed as he headed out of room.

\---

Hannah saw Josh as soon as he descended the stairs. Hannah called out to him with an exuberant wave. He started her way with a big smile on his face, that's when she felt her sister grab her and spin her around forcefully. Even without her glasses on she could tell that Beth was livid.

“Say nothing,” Beth practically hissed. Hannah was confused. She thought it was great news that her little sister was gay. She knew Josh would feel the same way too. In fact in Hannah's mind this just meant Beth was that much closer to her own happily ever after. No wonder she could be such a sour puss at these things. Hannah and Josh had always been trying to hook her up with the wrong gender.

“How goes the party ladies?” Josh said when he reached them.

“Good,” Beth answered before Hannah could say anything, “Where have you been?”

“Wardrobe malfunction,” he answered winking at Hannah. Hannah laughed at that. That was Josh's excuse for when he was “getting busy” with somebody. For them at least. She'd heard him use much cruder language with Chris and Mike when he thought she wasn't around. She could tell by looking at him that it wasn't true though and he was just messing with their sister.

“How about you go refill the ice this time then since you've been having so much fun,” Beth retorted.

“No can do sis, I see Sam over there looking like she might be having some trouble with her outfit soon too. Just can't miss that,” He teased sliding between them and striding over to Sam. Hannah smiled after him and followed him with her gaze. She looked back to find Beth had gone cold again at that comment. She was about to say something when Mike walked over to them. More specifically he walked over to her. Stopped almost directly in front of her barely a foot away.

“Hey Hannah,” he said with that oh so perfect smile of his.

“Hey Mike,” she responded unconsciously straightening her green dress and twirling a little.

“You look really beautiful tonight.” Oh, be still her heart.

“Thanks, you look beautiful also I mean handsome as well I mean. You look good.” In red. He is wearing red. Because he is taken. By your friend. Emily. Remember?

“So where's Emily?” she had to ask right? It was polite.

“I don't know. She went off to the bathroom and I haven't seen her since.” He seemed upset or disappointed at that. And she felt bad for him. She was not happy in anyway to hear it. She was just smiling because she had been drinking tonight.

“So do you wanna dance maybe?” Mike asked quirking up an eyebrow “Green means go right?”

Mike was asking her to dance with no Emily in sight. Her heart was on fire. She must have been glowing. What Angel had seen her dreams and deemed her worthy enough for them to be granted? She was going to dance with Micheal Munroe. She couldn't believe it. This couldn't really be happening right now. It just couldn't.

And of course it wasn't.

“And red means stop,” Beth's voice cut into her thoughts as she stepped in between her and Mike. She felt her sister take her hand and lead her away.

“Beth,” she whined, “I wanted to dance.”

“Quiet,” Beth said, “We will find a nice not taken boy to dance with.”

\---

Matt forgot about his phone. That his girlfriend was meant to text him. He was too busy drinking and watching Jess dance. Every once and awhile she would grab his hand and insist in that sweet voice of hers that he dance with her. He liked when she did because then she'd shake real close to him for a minute before pulling away again. He would all of her attention for a little while. He couldn't dance with her. Even in his tipsy state he knew that would be crossing a line.

He could watch her though. Maybe that was worse. Watching Jess move like that so intently. He wasn't even hiding what he was doing. If he danced with her then he could have at least pretended he didn't want her. He could have at least acted like they were just friends having a good time together. He could fool himself and maybe other people in thinking that this was all innocent. 

Ashley came over to talk to him at some point. They had chanted back and forth for a little bit. She must have left when she realized that nothing would be taking his attention away from Jess drinking and shaking her ass on top of the coffee table. He assumes that's what happened anyway. She was there one moment and the next she wasn't. It wasn't like Ashley to not say goodbye.

Jess had come over again to ask him to dance. This time she climbed right into his lap and hugged him around his neck. She begged with a large amount of 'pleases' and 'come ons' and pulled on his neck a few times. She gave him a sloppy adorable drunk grin and leaned her head on his chest. She smelled like cinnamon and alcohol. He laughed deeply before shooing her off telling her he didn't want to embarrass the white girl. She took his beer and swallowed a large amount of it before she skipped away wiggling her butt for good measure.

He remembered his phone twenty minute later. He had five messages from Marcy. But the only important one was the last. 'Saw you and your blond bitch girlfriend having a fun time at the Washingtons' party. Decided not to stick around. Fuck you, Matt. We're done.'

\---

She had to leave the bathroom eventually. I mean there were only so many in this house after all. She had made some progress she felt. That is to say she went from sitting on the toilet, to sitting on the sink, to sitting in the tub. See, progress. 

Also people had finally stopped banging on the door. I guess they figured that whoever was in here was not coming out. Maybe they assumed she was someone who had gotten really sick or a couple having sex. As long as people didn't know it was her having a breakdown of some sort she really didn't care what they thought.

She had taken a page from Chris' book and started searching on her phone about a half hour ago. This turned out to be about the worse thing she could have possibly decided to do. 

She had started researching if you could get pregnant without having actual intercourse. (yes you could.) The statics on it were staggeringly low boarding on extremely rare, but not impossible. This had led her to listing every last intimate act she had ever done with Mike when she had done them last and the likelihood that particular act would result in an accidental pregnancy even if the chances were low.

From there she had moved on to searching what having an abortion would look like. Messy, gross, maybe expensive, her total right as a woman apparently, or murder (maybe) depending on the website. Honestly the amount of conflicting information on the topic was so overwhelming she gave up wanting to find out more out of boredom and annoyance rather than anything radical or emotional anybody tried to propose to her. 

Searching what having a baby would be like must have been the worst. Even messier, even grosser, and even more expensive. She didn't get too far into that before decided she may never want to have kids. Ever. Like ever ever. Though out of pure curiosity she did use and app to combined her face and Mike's to see what a potential kid of theirs would look like. She was disappointed with the result. She thought their baby would be cuter. She was just going to go ahead a blame all it's faults on Mike.

Her head was starting to hurt from the overload of information. In fact so was her back from sitting in this stupid tub. So was her stomach for that matter. Most everything on Emily hurt actually and she really had to pee all of sudden too. 

Well at least she had locked herself in a bathroom, she thought as she pulled herself up from the tub and onto the toilet to relieve herself. She wished she could do something about her aches and pains as well. She thought getting out of that bathtub would have helped. She was going to wash her hands when she spotted the splashes of red on them.

Emily had never been made so happy by something so gross before in all her life.

\---

Beth took faith in the fact that she had done the right thing in not letting Hannah dance with Mike. And if she didn't well Hannah almost outed her to Josh so she didn't feel bad. Except she did. She felt really bad as she watched her siblings giggling on the couch with Sam . Hannah really wanted someone, anyone to dance with tonight. To think she looked special in her brand new green dress. But surely there were better guys out there for her then a sleazebag like Mike. 

When they were little Hannah had thought Chris was cute. She told Beth she was going to marry him when she grew up. That probably had more to do with him always being around than Hannah actually having feelings for him (Beth would know, she dated Chris in sixth grade simply because it was convenient for them both), but still Beth missed the time when her sister liked nice boys.

She seemed happy enough right now though with Josh and Sam shoveling jello shots into their mouths.(Red, yellow and green jello shots. Like a stoplight. Ha ha Josh).

Sam. That was the other reason Beth had dated Chris in sixth grade. She had been in her class first a year before meeting Hannah, but she hadn't noticed Beth. Beth had sure noticed her though. She could run faster than any kid in class, she had long beautiful hair, and she could even sing. She made Beth feel very strange things about herself. Things she thought she was supposed to feel about boys. She wanted to kiss Sam so she had kissed Chris instead. It had made sense to her preteen brain at the time. 

A year later Hannah introduced the girl as her new best friend and she looked at Beth with not a hint of reorganization except that she was Hannah's twin. And Beth buried her feeling for the other girl as deeply as she could into the very back of her heart and her mind. She wrote her feelings off as admiration and envy and a whole host of other things she knew didn't make any amount of sense.

They got older though and as they did they grew. Sam only got more beautiful and graceful as the years went on. She shared Beth's love for nature and animals. She understood Beth's dedication to her family. They shared a special look whenever Josh made jokes that went over their heads or Chris made a reference they didn't understand. They both loved Hannah, and had patience for her romantic heart even if they both laughed under their breath through every romantic movie she dragged them too and never took her romance tests seriously. 

It turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Hannah had never had too many close friends when she was young and now she had Sam. Hannah adored Sam. In the end someone who cared about her sister was the most important thing in the world to Beth. Beth may be comfortable with her sexuality now (or more comfortable) but Sam belonged to Hannah not her. Sam would always belong to Hannah. 

That was just the way things were.

\---

Josh's clothes were really loose on him and they were a little too short too. He also got a few strange looks now that he had switched into a yellow t-shit and white button up. Chris tried not to focus on it though. He tried to keep his focus ahead of him. On Ashley. She was talking to some guy he didn't know in a green sweater. A guy who probably though he was slick and cool enough to uncomplicate whatever situation she found herself in.

“Hey you,” he said coming up to her, trying so hard to sound like he had just noticed her. She turned around to face him and nearly jumped with joy.

“Chris!” She sounded really happy, good, “I have been looking everywhere for you, all night. I was starting to think you didn't come.”

“Sorry,” he answered, feeling at least a little smug that the other guy had literally lost all of her attention at his arrival, “I had something I needed to take care of. But yeah I'm here.”

“I see that,” she giggled, “I'm so happy to see that.”

“Have you been drinking, Miss?” he teased leaning in close to her face while watching her friend wander away behind her from the corner of his eye. Yeah, you get out of here buddy.

“A little,” she laughed again, he guessed she drank more than a little, “My new friend here uh Dave I think,” she turned around and looked disappointed, “Oh where did he go?”

“Uh who knows?” Chris said putting his hand on her shoulder to pull her attention back to him. She spun back towards him and moved much closer to him than he thinks she meant to. He'd be lying if he said he minded. She smiled up at him with all her teeth. She rarely did that. He felt a little light headed. 

“You look...very pretty tonight,” he said, “Yellow is a really nice color on you.” Finally, it's about time he said something even remotely suave to this girl.

“Oh! Thanks,” She said twirling just a bit then giggled like crazy and covered her mouth with her hand, “I forgot to do laundry.”

“What?” Chris was sure he felt his heart drop through his feet.

“I was gonna wear my green tights with my green plaid dress, but I didn't do laundry,” she explained to him through her fingers, “ I figured yellow was the next best thing even though I'm technically single.”

It was in this moment that Chris felt two very distinct and very different emotions. The first was relief over the fact that he had not in anyway misconstrued his relationship with Ashley. She had not come here with any false assumptions about the nature of them or what they were. Everything between him and her was exactly as he had thought it was previously. 

The other was disappointment. Because well everything between him and her was exactly as he had thought it was previously. And maybe it was stupid. Maybe he had been jumping to conclusions. Maybe it was all in his head. But for a brief moment in time he had thought maybe he and Ashley could have been something. 

And that just kinda sucked.

“Why are you wearing yellow?”

“What?”

“Why are you wearing yellow?” Ashley asked again pointing to his (Josh's) t-shirt. It was his opportunity to tell her the truth. To reclaim that moment in time. To have what he had wanted with Ashley only just moments ago. 

“I spilled something on my shirt.” He didn't take it. “This is all Josh had to give me. That's probably where I was before when you were looking for me.”

\---

Hannah considered the night so far to be a success. Even though she didn't get someone to dance with (yet) and even though she had not met her own true love in green that night. She saw plenty of other couples in green leave together happily and for her that was enough. Hannah loved love. She wasn't completely selfish though. It meant just as much to her to see love blossom in others than for it to blossom for herself. 

Which is why it made her so damn sad that Beth wouldn't just tell Josh how she felt. She wanted to help her sister and she knew Josh would too. She wondered when everything for them had gotten so complicated. Maybe they all should be wearing yellow tonight.

The night was coming to a close at this point. People were leaving whether they were coupled up or not and at this rate it looked like neither Hannah nor her sister would be getting a fairytale dance. That made her sad. She wished she could do something to change this. She also wished she could tell her best friend why she was so sad. Sam was looking at her with those puppy-dog eyes of hers. But Hannah was swore to secrecy by Beth and she couldn't break that. They were sisters, twins even. Birth to earth. 

Hannah was running out of ideas though. And Sam was better at ideas than anybody she knew.

\---

Matt felt like scum. No, he felt lower than scum. He should have just broken up with her weeks ago. Honestly he was going to, he really was, but it never felt like the right time. It wasn't like he had cheated on her or had any plans to cheat on her either. It was just that he knew breaking up with her would hurt her feelings and the reason why would hurt her even more. After all the times she talked about being worried that all his closest friends were girls. All the hours he had to spend assuring her that there was nothing going on with Sam or Ashley or -

“Matt?”

“Hey, Jess,” He looked towards her as she entered the kitchen. She pulled up a stool next to his and sat down. She leaned on the counter trying to get a good look at him.

“What's wrong? You took off kinda fast in there?” she asked. Matt didn't give an answer. He just shrugged on his red blazer and tossed it aside. He opened his palms to her as if that was enough of an explanation. Thankfully for Jessica, it was.

“Oh,” she said, “Well, fuck her then. I never liked her anyway.” 

'She didn't like you much either,' Matt thought taking a long sip of his beer. When Jess realized trash talking wasn't helping she leaned in closer and gently nudged his shoulder.

“Wanna talk about it?” she said in a singsong voice swaying gently back and forth. Matt sighed and realized that yes, he did, he really really did.

“It's just we have been fighting a lot recently because she isn't cool with that fact that a bunch of my friends are girls.” Jess looked confused at that.

“But you have guy friends. Mike and Josh...”

“Yeah but I mean they aren't my good friends you know. I'm much closer to Emily or Ashley and I mean you're practically my best friend Jess.”

“Aww Matt,” She slung her arm around him when he said that leaning her head on his shoulder. She must have been pretty touched. It really didn't improve the situation in his mind though.

“And I guess she was jealous because she thought I wanted you,” he confessed before quickly amending, “any of you I mean. She thought I was cheating or going to.”

“That's ridiculous isn't it?” Jess said. Matt looked up at her leaning on the counter cheek perched in her hand and wondered how ridiculous it was.

“Why?”

“Well come on Matt if I wanted you I would have had you by now,” she drawled dramatically. She was teasing him and really he knew she was teasing him. This wasn't new information either. He was well aware that Jess didn't want him. Not like that anyway. Not the way he wanted her. Somehow though that really didn't make what she said hurt any less.

“Yeah and you always get what you want Jess,” he teased back.

“Not always,” she said with a huff, “You still have not danced with me all night Mister.”

And he knew it was a bad idea, but he had made so many of those tonight that he figured one more couldn't possibly be that bad at this point. So he finished his drink and with a smile said, “Alright Jess, I'll dance with you.”

\---

Emily really couldn't blame him for being mad at her. She had been avoiding him all night. Actually she had been avoiding him for the last 6 days before hiding out at Jessica's for the afternoon and then showing up to a party they were meant to be attending together and then she avoided him all night once she actually got there. Details aside however, the point was Mike was rightfully angry at her when she finally found him after leaving the bathroom.

“Oh has Queen Emily finally decided to grace us with her presence?” he said in a nasty voice as she walked up to him. Normally she would have yelled right back at him. She would have started a fight and carried on the whole rest of the evening and maybe even into the next day. Nothing about any of this had been normal for her though. So he was quite shocked when instead she threw her arms around him and hugged him harder than she ever had in their entire relationship.

“I'm sorry,” she said into his chest, “I'm really really sorry.”

She felt Mike return the hug and pull her close. She felt 6 days worth of tears start to fall down her cheeks as he held her. She gripped his shoulders and cried. This is why she had been avoiding him. She knew as soon as she saw him, got close to him the weight of it all would just collapse on top of her and she would cry. She wasn't going to tell him. She had already decided that. She had also decided she probably wasn't to have sex for a long, long time. She wasn't sure if she was going to tell him that either. But she also really needed him with her right now. If there was one thing she knew he could do, it was be there.

“Hey, hey,” Mike asked his anger melting away at the sight of her crying, “Are, are you okay?”

“Yeah, it's just been a really tough couple of days,” she answered, “I didn't want to get you involved unless I had to.” That at least was true.

“Alright then,” he said, “I guess I can respect that. Just let me know next time, okay?”

“Okay.”She let go of him and cleaned her face off as best she could. Mike may not be perfect, but ultimately she was happy she had him. He would be good to have around in both the best and worst cases. She could just tell. She smiled and breathed a little to stop her crying.

“So do you maybe wanna get out of here?” She asked.

“Soon,” Mike said, before smiling in that charmingly devious way of his “but first you owe me at least one dance. I've been waiting all night.”

Okay, maybe Mike was a little perfect.

\---

Beth was sitting on the steps watching people leave and definitely not hoping the door hit their stupid asses on the way out. She hated that people had actually coupled up at their party. Though she was sure Hannah was all a twitter over it as was Josh if he wasn't off humping whatever man or woman or thing he could get to hold still long enough. At least she took solace in the fact that this was all almost over.

She almost didn't notice another person sit down next to her. Figuring it was her sister again, trying to bother her to come back into the party Beth snapped, “What do you want?” Only to be met by Sam's playful gaze as she sat there in her tight black halter top, green skirt and black tights.

“Hello to you to,” she said with a smirk. Great this is exactly what she wanted right now.

“Hey, Sam,” Beth said leaning back, “I thought you were Hannah.”

“I feel like that should be my line,” Sam countered.

“Funny,” Beth said rolling her eyes. The two of them sat in silence watching people come and go for a bit and then Sam slide a little closer to Beth. She would have moved away, but she felt that would have been to obvious. Dealing with the heat and goosebumps rising all over her skin was a much better option she thought. At least a more uncomfortable one.

“Are they cute?” Sam asked like it was a secret.

“Who?” Beth asked, confused.

“Whoever you're seeing,” Sam responded fingering the lace on Beth's neckline, “You're wearing red.”

“Oh no,” Beth answered. Was Sam this close to her before?, “I'm not seeing anyone. I was just trying to keep away the horndogs.”

“Ah good strategy,” Sam said tapping her finger to her head.

“Thanks, it took me hours to concoct,” Beth retorted.

“What if someone wants to ask you to dance though?” Sam was still playing with the lace around her neckline. Beth was trying to chalk it up to the fact that she was probably very drunk after going shot for shot with her brother.

“Like who, exactly?” She snorted, regretting it only moments after she did it when she remember who she was speaking to. She was very confused right now. Her face felt hot, and the tingles and goosebumps on her arms were getting worse by the second. Sam was definitely getting closer too. She wasn't imagining that.

“Like me, maybe? Can I ask you to dance?” Sam bit her lip after she said it. Like she was afraid Beth might turn her down flat. Beth couldn't decide which was more unbelievable the fact that Sam was asking her to dance right now or that fact that she actually thought Beth was going to reject her. She remembered being young and wanting more than anything to kiss those lips. Or maybe she wasn't remembering and she was just feeling that again.

“Sure, you can,” Beth answered, “No one's gonna stop you.”

“And what would you say if I did?” Sam asked already standing up and pulling Beth after her. Was she in a movie right now? There was absolutely no way this was happening. It just couldn't be real.

“I think I'd have to say 'yes' don't you?” Beth answered as they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

“I think I'd just like to get to the dancing part,” Sam said. Beth could not have agreed more.

\---

“Movies or T.V.?” Ashley asked Chris who was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. She had her feet in his lap as she lounged against a beanbag. They were back to their old formula in no time. Their time as almost lovers pretty much forgotten about.

“T.V.” He said as he took a sip of his beer.

“What? Why?”

“You know they show movies on T.V. eventually right?” Chris said leaning forward for emphasis.

“But you'd never get to see anything on those big screens again. No more Emma Stone 50 feet high.”

“I do like my Emma Stone 50 feet high.”

“See?” They each took a drink.

“Know what I would pick over both of them though?” she asked a little mischievously, she was still drunk after all.

“Video games.” Chris answered at the same time she did. She gave him an annoyed look.

“Okay, smart guy am I PS3 or Xbox 360 gamer?”

“Trick question, Ash. You're PC master race,” he said tickling her foot, “Just like I am.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” she pulled her feet away from him and only put them back when he held up his hands to show he wouldn't tickle her anymore. She settled down onto the beanbag and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Then she said something Chris really wasn't expecting.

“You think it's a sign? That we both ended up in yellow tonight?”

“What do you mean?” He asked scared that they were treading back onto this topic.

“I mean, things with us they sort of are complicated, you know,” she continued and Chris tried to remember that Ashley had been drinking as she said the things she did, “I mean what are we really? Because we aren't just friends right? And because I wore yellow guys didn't really hit on me. Nobody even asked me to dance...”

“Do you want to?”

“What?”

“Do you want to dance?”Maybe it was because she sounded so sad that no one had asked her to dance. Maybe it was because she was drunk and it felt wrong to talk about it like that. Maybe he just really wasn't ready to go there yet. For whatever reason Chris made a decision right then, and right there that this wasn't going to happen tonight.

“Yeah I would,” she said though she was clearly caught off guard, “I really, really would.”

“Great,” Chris said standing up and helping her to her feet. He pulled towards where the music was playing and felt more than a little bad that this was the best he could give her for now.

\---

Everybody had left now except for what Hannah would call her actual friends. Not that she didn't like the other people she had invited, if she didn't she wouldn't have invited them. But the seven people swaying and moving to the music out on her living room floor right now those were the people she called friends on a daily basis. The people that came over to their house all the time. The people their shared birthdays and special occasions with. Her friends. They looked great out there too.

She was happy she hadn't shut the music off just yet when Matt and Jess came out of the kitchen and with no one else around started dancing. It was good to see. They were both so bouncy and full of energy. They were the two best dancers among all of them, unsurprisingly considering how fit and lean they both were. They twirled and twisted and spun in rhythm together like they had done so a thousand times.. They looked happy. Though she had no idea why Matt's blazer was gone or why his girlfriend had never shown up. 

She felt a little sad when Mike and Emily joined them. She hadn't seen Emily all night, but it looked like she and Mike found each other and made up. Their smiles were bright and they looked good together. They were graceful and classy and elegant out there together. They really made a beautiful couple. She told herself it was better this way even if she didn't really truly believe that. She had to be satisfied with it because that was just the way things were.

Eventually Chris and Ashley wandered in too. Though Ashley must have been a least a little drunk from the way she wobbled. It was good she wasn't wearing shoes for how many times she stepped on Chris' feet as he clumsily led her around the floor. Hannah's not sure she'd call what the two of them were doing dancing, but they were laughing really loudly and having a lot of fun doing it. Josh seemed to get kick out of watching his two best friends out there too.

She felt best when Sam pulled her sister out and danced with her. She clapped her hands and Josh whistled and for a minute she thought Beth was gonna storm out like she always did. But she didn't. She let Sam wrap her in her arms and hold her close. It was sweet. They moved so shyly together. Like they were both so afraid of messing up or doing something wrong. It took them some time to settle into it, but once they did they looked really comfortable and they were both smiling those half smiles of theirs where they bit their bottom lip. That's when Hannah knew they must be in love and she couldn't help the fantasies that ran through her head as she watched them. Though she did wonder exactly whose maid of honor she was meant to be at the wedding. Guess they'd have to flip for it. Maybe Josh could take the other spot. Speaking of Josh , he wrapped his arms around her from behind in a tight hug before pulling her out towards the floor himself.

“Josh,” she said with a laugh.

“We threw a good party, sis” he explained, “You deserve your dance.” With that Hannah let her brother pull her out and lead her along the dance floor knowing one guy would always see her as special in her lime green party dress.

**Author's Note:**

> So explainations I guess. I wanted to look at the more vanurable side of Emily without making her a wimp. I get a little sick of perfect Matt depictions as well. I see him as a guy who struggles a lot with his wants and needs vs other people's so I tried to play that angle here.
> 
> Chris' story is the one I'm most proud of and think came out the cleanest. While I never intended for Beth and Hannah's stories to become so intertwined I am not upset that they did. It fits them as characters I feel.


End file.
